Farkas

Thanks Elmar, 🍻🍻 Cheers Graf, Yes, not my usual thing but the look of it caught my eye too. I originally didn’t notice the overlap, I too thought the colour was going to be enamel. Upon receipt I saw the badge was hand painted, in my opinion, a nice big shiny slurp of gloss which crossed the line… Thanks both, tony 🍻

Hi Gents, tony🍻

Hi Gents... Thanks Dfifer for this ☝️... very interesting, enough for me to dig mine out... 👇 If I remember correctly... The one with the ‘gold’ detail is a ‘life membership’ medal and weights 17.3g including ribbon. The dark one is lighter, 12.2g including ribbon, and is possibly silver underneath. The boxed one which hasn’t tarnished is very light, just 6.0g and appears to be the same as the LManz’s Dads momento. Cheers tony🍻

Thanks Terry, I’ll get a picture up tomorrow 👍 tony 👍

Thanks Christian, HMA - Hauptmünzamt ( State Mint )

I think I’m wrong about the HMA & FA marks…

One hell of a bar… Thanks for the pics 👍

Hi Gents, continuing the summary first… There are 4 marked HMA. - HEERESMATERIALAMT (Army Ordnance) in my opinion. There are 3 marked JC - Johann Christelbaur & Son There are 3 marked FA I haven’t seen this attributed to a particular maker so… I’m inclined to say FA represents… - FESTUNGSARTILLERIE (Fortress Artillery) If HEERESMATERIALAMT (Army Ordnance) is acceptable as maker HMA then why not FESTUNGSARTILLERIE (Fortress Artillery) also? Any thoughts welcome as always 👍 tony 🍻 *** Just 5 left to summarise, then onto pictures of the KTK, the stamps and details.

Wow Spasm, these are brilliant! 👀👀 Totally, they have that special quality about them that so few manage… tony 🍻

Even just from an aesthetic point of view, this is a really good photo. It looks like it could have been taken yesterday. A great looking subject, the sharpness & a less common dark background all work together. Is the man above also King Ferdinand 1? tony 🍻

Hi Michael, I’m not familiar with these but just from the picture I question the end of the pin… it looks fresh and sharp to me 🤷‍♂️ I also saw an example put forward as original which has a different profile noticeable in the eagles wings, theirs is symmetrical whereas yours is not.., Hopefully someone in the know will add their opinion…. tony🍻

I’d never be brave enough to buy something as special as this… I bought this for the medal and ribbon, the bar effectively cost me nothing. It has no marks, is wonky and the ribbon has no marks showing one was ever attached but I’m 53 and (almost) past embarrassment and I’m curious what peeps think of it… I have this 👇 To me, something so plain is beyond confirmation as ‘original’ but it’s likely easy to prove otherwise… To me, it’s for aesthetics/display so you can’t hurt my feelings Gents.,, Any thoughts?

Hi Gents, My intention is to learn a little as I Google things to write and post these, i already know more than I did… but I’m not someone who does a deep dive and already I find myself distracted by random musings about my observations, not the facts or history which might disagree with me. I’m a collector/hoarder not historian 😊 Please feel free to inform, correct or agree with any of it and of course requests for anything I can add always welcome. ———— I’ve been having a little look at the availability of KTK by the various makers. Predominately I found W&A (Winter & Adler) BSW (Bruder Schneider Wien) So no surprise that these are the 2 most present amongst mine… There are 12 W&A There are 8 BSW Further summary to follow… tony 🍻

Youre welcome 😊 ————- I did have a look for the specific units that were issued lanyards and learnt that upon mobilisation for ww1 all soldiers were actually issued one, so as far as I know it doesn’t narrow things down, however maybe someone knows that different colours some units used might… The lanyards were worn on the left shoulder during ww1 but moved to the right shoulder after the war. From the IWM site ‘Physical description Single length of twisted cord with a large 'shoulder' aperture one end, and a smaller eye at the other. History note This type of lanyard was a standard issue to soldiers for carrying their issue clasp, or 'jack' knife; alternatively they were used for securing a marching compass. Should either item be dropped then the lanyard connected the object to the man to prevent loss. ‘ tony 🍻

Nice one Megan 👍

Hi Greg, As you know my true love is Austro Hungarian… like so many of us though I’ve been attracted to many other Nations awards, in my case usually because I spot a pretty thing at a good price. 😊 If I remember correctly you are in the US? How do you assess the prices you pay after post and taxes? Not just on these but generally… I’ve bought things from the US and with smaller items the cost has doubled in some cases. Do you experience the same problem? Also, while I’m here so to speak, are you finding items that were issued or unissued? Generally I pick up the tatty and torn which suits me fine, but boxed and complete with bar ribbon is a great option to have… These Hungarian awards, that I presume are 4 civilian & 1 military (same recipient) are among the few I have complete in their own original boxes… I look forward to seeing what you find 👍 Happy Hunting!! tony 🍻

Hi Daniel, This was my very first post on GMIC, 6 years and a 1000 posts later i have just spotted it… Ive got to ask, how did your search go in the end? The language barrier is a real bitch! cheers tony 🍻

Update… After looking at the excellent hallmarks thread by bovec, i can confirm the ‘clubs’ shaped makers mark is indeed that of Bruder Schneider, it is a ‘clover’ mark they used. tony

I love this thread, I reckon it’s worthy of being pinned, 🤞 tony 🍻

Well Gents, I’ve had my trusty eye piece out… & the results are in. So without getting ahead of myself (I want to build the suspense 😊 & post pics of everything first) these are just the numbers without disclosing the makers. 12 x 8 x 4 x 3 x 3 x 2 x 1 x 1 x aluminium (possibly stamped) 1 x unmarked ——————- I’d quickly like to use this opportunity to ask you about the picture quality below, I’m on a phone so hard to know the scale and detail of them on other devices. Feedback appreciated 👍 &… I’ve given in, I need to ask about this mark 👇 Gents? It’s shaped not unlike a club (like the suit in playing cards) but I don’t know it. A guess… Is it the Schneider Brothers (SB?) mentioned in the list below? 🤷‍♂️ * HMA - HEERESMATERIALAMT (Army Ordnance) * BSW - Bruder Schneider Wien ————-// All thoughts welcome.. Cheers tony 🍻

Very nice Greg 🍻

I’d guess the badge you have is what is known as a ‘Sweetheart badge/brooch’. It looks very nice. tony. 🍻

Better late than never… ” 7th Indian Cavalry Brigade The Meerut Cavalry Brigade was a cavalry brigade of the British Indian Army formed in 1904 as a result of the Kitchener Reforms. It was mobilized as 7th (Meerut) Cavalry Brigade at the outbreak of the First World War and departed for the Western Front where it served as part of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division “ tony🍻

Disclaimer: don’t listen to me! But as you asked… yes 😊 As it happens I’ve got something similar to one of yours 👇 with a bit of scabbard left. An impressive thing for sure. and a few other bits and bobs. I always clean them up to some extent, certainly the blade. I tend to buy neglected things, often in rough shape and I enjoy the transformation. The way I look at it is they’re mine and if I want to clean them I will. By any means I fancy! The issue I have faced is the return of rust as for some I don’t have scabbards… but just recently I found out about this 👇, previously blueing was beyond me, hopefully this is the answer to the rust 🤞 I’ll let you know how it goes. But 1st if you can… There are some awesome videos on you-tube, search ‘bayonet restoration’ or similar 👍, it’s very impressive what some do and even shows how to make scabbards/sheaths. Before anything else I’d strongly suggest you watch a couple of those videos. Lots of usable tips. Cheers tony 🍻

As said 👆it is all wrong and surely French. The collars are French engineers. The sleeve ranks are wrong for Brits and don’t even match anything else. The pips look like ww2 not ww1 too. The general service buttons are far to battered to belong on a good condition tunic. The wings are wrong. & RFC not RAF which tries to date it to ww1, no chance. There were 4 buttons or sometimes 5 but not six used by Brits. The French army however introduced a 6 button (khaki) tunic in 1935. I love taking a punt, interesting things often hide under later innocent alterations made to recreate a desired appearance but even I see nothing to suggest anything interesting hidden here. tony